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Optimal carbon storage during drought.

Elisa Z Stefaniak1,2, David T Tissue2,3, Roderick C Dewar4,5

  • 1Biodiversity Ecology and Conservation Research Group, Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Schlossplatz 1, Laxenburg 2361, Austria.

Tree Physiology
|March 18, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Plants actively manage carbohydrate storage to survive drought. Optimal strategies involve distinct growth, storage, and stress phases, with timing influenced by prioritizing growth or storage.

Keywords:
active storagecarbon sourcedynamic optimizationgrowth–storage trade-offnon-structural carbohydratesoptimal response

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Area of Science:

  • Plant physiology
  • Ecological modeling
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Plants store non-structural carbohydrates for future stress.
  • Storage involves a trade-off between carbon for growth and storage.
  • Plants may actively regulate storage to maximize fitness under stress.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify growth and storage patterns during drought under the hypothesis of active carbon storage regulation.
  • To model optimal carbon allocation strategies using optimal control theory.

Main Methods:

  • Optimal control theory was used to calculate optimal allocation to storage and utilization of stored carbon.
  • Two fitness objectives were examined: prioritizing growth versus prioritizing storage.
  • The study analyzed the resulting carbon allocation trajectories over a drought stress period.

Main Results:

  • Optimal carbon storage follows three phases: growth, storage without growth, and the stress phase.
  • The switch time from growth to storage defines the trajectory and depends on life strategy.
  • Growth-prioritizing plants switch later and deplete reserves, while storage-prioritizing plants switch early or do not grow.

Conclusions:

  • Active regulation of carbon storage optimizes plant performance during stress.
  • Growth cessation often precedes soil water depletion, indicating a proactive strategy.
  • Observed increases in carbon storage during drought can be an adaptive, fitness-maximizing process.